Well, this is my last post coming from Ghanaian soil and I am excited and sad at the same time. This internet cafe has been quite the experience in and of itself so I will miss it, I will miss it all really but the next two weeks will be an adventure of their own. Thank you for following my journey here in good old Ghana. I will be expecting a warm welcome back in the states, after a shower of course.
July 10, 2012
I’ve got to stop planning time for transcribing interviews
because every time I do, the light goes out. I decided to go to the hospital
today though so that I could finish my things for the internet café since they
always run on a generator if the light is out so I was able to get stuff done.
It was funny though because everyone who came in had to ask about what I was
doing and watched me type because they a) don’t usually have their own laptops
and b) cannot type nearly as fast as I can. They being the nurses and hospital
workers who came in and out of the MCH for the 2 hours I was in there typing.
The women come by probably once a week selling jewelry and clothes and such and
today when we were getting ready to leave Jackie came over and handed me a pair
of earrings. Sister Felicia had bought us both matching bling blingin earrings.
They are great. I put them in before we left so she could see and I know that I
looked hilarious with my v neck, cloth skirt, chacos, and these big shiny
earrings. They love the jewelry here I tell ya, and it sure is bedazzling. Like
seriously, sometimes I think I could have made it myself. I love African
fashion. I have probably lost my American eyes for style so I hope that I am
able to remember how to dress when I get home. We headed into Agona around
12:30 to meet the girls for lunch, market, and café. We had fried rice from our
favorite lady for the last time and we headed to the Gentle Spot to see Nana
and Joyce, we missed Ivan and Unis and Prince though. I hope I get to see them
again before I leave. The internet café is usually full of Senior High school
boys and we have to fight our way to the Ethernet cords but I just hide in my
own little world when I am there and that 2 hours is like therapy. Reading my
family and friends emails is such a beautiful thing and I almost always end up
in tears for one reason or another. I love my family I tell ya. I wish every
single human on this earth understood that they can be together forever with
their families. After an hour at the café the network went out. We waited for
about 45 minutes but it didn’t come back so we just headed home for the day
because we still had to go get food in the market. We realized that it was the
last real market day because next week we wont be getting much seeing as we
will only be there til Friday. I’ve still been so so itchy still and I am
trying so hard to focus on learning that patience and understanding so
hopefully it will get better soon. I worked out real good tonight because I
haven’t in quite awhile because ive been trying to figure out ways to do
aerobic workout without jogging but I just cant. I did a ton of abs though and
turns out it is not that easy to do on a wooden bench, it kinda hurts. Not the
burnin muscle kinda hurt but more like the bruising spine kinda feel. If that
is the least I have to endure though, endure it I will, my abs will thank me
after having a summer diet filled with starch, starch, and more starch.
July 11, 2012
I had spent some few hours transcribing this morning before
going back to Agona for the internet café. Jackie had gone earlier to do an
interview and I had no way of knowing whether or not she would be there at the
time but luckily I timed it right and she and Cassie were both there when I
arrived. I left the house with just enough to take the taxi there and back and
pay for an hour at the café. Now, on this day, I officially have 15 pesewas to
my name. It feels so weird to literally not be able to buy anything. I don’t
have time to go back to Kumasi
to get more money out at the bank and there were unexpected costs that I did
not account for last time I took out money so I am certainly experiencing
living below the poverty line of less than a dollar a day. I don’t quite know
what I am going to do yet. When we returned from Agona I had some interviews
planned but people did not arrive for a few hours so I just hung out in the MCH
with all my pals and did some planning with interview questions. Im really
enjoying interviews and I feel silly for being so intimidated by them before. I
interviewed one of the pharmacy assistants and he showed me all the different
malaria medicines carried by the hospital and we talked about their dosages and
which is most popular and such. It was great and I can’t believe I hadn’t done
that before now. After the interview we just talked about Ghana for
awhile and the conversation always goes back to the local food and then I start
to think about all the food that I miss so much. After him I interviewed one of
the male nurses who works in the surgeries. The theater, what they call the
surgery ward in the hospital, is kind of off limits for anyone that doesn’t
belong but I am pretty much allowed anywhere in the hospital so its fun to go
in there. I don’t regret not watching a surgery though, that would have been
kinda crazy. Although after writing that, I kind of wish I could. Id probably
pass out, maybe its best that I don’t. I don’t know. Anyway, the interview went
well but it was kind of hard at the same time because this particular nurse is
one of our pals and I don’t think he was really taking it seriously so I don’t
know how reliable the information he was giving me is, but that is a risk that
is taken with every interview really. You never know if the informant is
telling you how it actually is, or if they are just telling you what they think
you want to hear. Nonetheless, data is data and those things will all be
accounted for in my research. Our friend Derek walked us home when we were
leaving the hospital today and told me congratulations on my engagement, I was
surprised because I did not know that anyone had proposed but apparently there is
a rumor that said nurse who I had just interviewed, and I are to be married. It
is a rumor going around among the nurses because I am tall and he is also very
tall so clearly we are a perfect match. I told Derek that if he wants to follow
me back to America
and they all want to come to the wedding then I’m in. There were some kids playing ping pong next to the market on the way so i jumped in. it was so hard to play how they were but man i love this game...
When we walked through
the gates at home I saw the most precious baby girl in the entire world. Seriously, she
was perfect. She had the most infectious smile and had little poof ball pony
tails all over her head and was wearing these cute little over alls and was not
afraid of me…it was great. Jackie and I played with her for awhile and then I
watched another Mexican soap opera with Abena…im loving these soaps, they are
hysterical! We wanted to watch a movie tonight with Mama and King too so we got
as comfortable as is possible here and snuggled in the sitting room and I
realized that one reason I love movies so much is because of the soundtracks.
Some movies have the worlds best songs and it makes such a big difference in
the movie. So good. At the café today I was reading my professors email and she
is really worried about my rash, me too. She said that I should move as soon as
possible but I fear that I cannot leave Mama earlier than I already am. Jackie
told Mama that we are leaving next Friday and she was already upset at that so
I don’t think I can leave any earlier. I can handle the rash for one more week,
heaven knows I have been dealing with it for over a month already so its
nothing.
July 12, 2012
This morning when we arrived at work Sister Felicia got out
some fabric and said that they were going to take it to the seamstress and make
Jackie and I something. There were 3 fabrics on the table but the one she was
holding was both of our least favorite. I think she could tell because she said
we could choose out of the three and the one Jackie and I liked best because it
looked most African to us, turned out to be sweet. We opened it up to see the
pattern more fully and it ended up having the African map on it. We walked down
to Sister Felicia’s seamstress and chose the style we wanted and the seamstress
took our measurements. I am super excited, I think they are going to turn out
very well. I don’t know that I will ever wear it at home but it will be fun to
have for sure. And maybe I will wear it, who knows. There was no pharmaceutical
presentation today after the clinical meeting which makes me sad because I love
those, they always bring yummy treats. I was going to do some observation with
DK today and set up an interview with him next week but he was in Theater all
morning. Hopefully I can do it tomorrow because I really want to get an
interview with him and DS as well before I leave. Only one more week with the
people at the hospital!! Blows my mind. I left the hospital since I had nothing
left to do there and I went to talk to people in town. I went to the Chemical
Seller first which is just like a mini drug store and I talked with this woman,
who is my favorite because she is so beautiful, but anyway we talked for like
30 minutes and she showed me all the anti-malaria medicine that she carried and
we discussed prices and popularity and such. I was proud of myself and her for
the communication we were able to afford with her broken English and my broken Twi.
It was so fun. When I was leaving her for the day she was talking after me to
“learn hard and work hard” then was cheering saying “Doctor Akua” I was
laughing and just played along because I did not want to explain to her how
different Medical Anthropology is from being a Doctor. I could have never made
it through Medical school, unless of course I wanted to be a Doctor, then I
totally could have done it. I went and sat with Linda and her sister on the
street (the donut girls) for a few hours and in that time I was able to talk to
a lot of people and get some great informal interviews for my research. One
woman who was talking with Linda about me, well most often people talk to Linda
about me before actually talking to me and half the time they are just laughing
hysterically and I have no idea whats going on but, when Linda elaborates to me
it is usually the strangest things. Like this woman was asking me if my mother
gave birth to me naturally, why? I have no idea, I said yes and then she
started asking if a cutlass (machete) was used to open my mothers belly like a
c-section…I don’t know how that question comes out of me saying that yes, my
mother did in fact birth me but many people have strange ideas here so I was
not entirely that surprised. I got out a picture of my family and explained
that I had 7 siblings. A few minutes later the woman brought me a picture of
her with 4 BYU students from years ago. She showed me another picture that was
of the branch here in Asamang. I asked her why I had not seen her at church
before and Linda just laughed. I told her that I expected to see her there on
Sunday because she claims to be a member of the church. Though we could not
communicate anything else, she understood this and said that she would come to
church on Sunday but who knows if she actually will. One woman who came to buy
food was speaking to me in really good English and had the sweetest baby boy on
her back so I was just dying and she said that she wanted to come to my church
sometime with me. I also invited her this Sunday saying that it is probably my
last Sunday here and she agreed that she would come to. It would be so cool if
they actually came and though I am not betting on it, it felt cool to talk
about the church for a few minutes and invited people to join me. At this time,
a crowd had gathered as it usually does and people were passing the picture
around and asking all sorts of questions. It was funny times. As I sat there I
got a free people donut and a skewer with mystery meat bought for me, it
actually tasted really good but I was scared as to what exactly I was eating
since I had no idea and when I asked they were calling it something that
sounded like ‘beans’. It was clearly not beans so I just ate it. I stayed with
them chatting until Jackie came home from work and I walked the rest of the way
with her. While writing up my field notes for the day Jackie came and got me
saying that my package had finally come. I was surprised that it had ever come
at all because it was received at the same time as Jackies and hers came weeks
ago.
It was fun to open it and considering the amount of Clif Bars my mom sent
me to last for the duration (she sent it on June 4, supposed to arrive 8-10
days later), I now have more Clif Bars than I have days here. But it will be
great for travel because then I wont have to spend any money on food and can
just live off of those for a few days. And the worlds best…Peanut Butter and
gum!! Such beautiful and welcome delights. I am so so happy. I could live off
peanut butter, gum and clif bars for the rest of my time here and be happy.
Which is good considering I can’t buy anything with 15 pesewas, its like the
equivalent of 7 cents. I finished my notes and talked with Mama and Jackie
while Mama prepared our bean stew and then did my scripture reading for the
day. We are nearing the end of Ether and will complete the Book of Mormon on
Sunday. I am excited to end on a Sunday because it will be that much cooler to
complete it and exercise Moroni ’s
promise. I know this book is true, so true. After dinner we went over to
Linda’s house and played with all the kids. I love how most of my best friends
here are under the age of 15. I also realized how much I miss going out with my
friends at night. I have not really missed it this whole summer except for the
night in Cape Coast
They have a board here kind of like a mancala board on which a variety
of games are played and we played game after game after game until it got dark
and it was more fun just to see everyone’s reaction when we understood the game
and would win that it even was just to play the game. I love this big family, I
just want to go hang out with the kids all the time they are so funny and so
happy. It is times like these where I wish I had known them for the whole 3
months because now we only have a week left and we barely got to know them; but
I am grateful for the time that I do have, that is enough. When we got home
Mama asked if we had seen King because she had sent him out looking for us. It
was only 7:22 but since it was completely dark and we had not taken our phone,
she was worried. She doesn’t like it when we aren’t home.
July 13, 2012
This morning we woke up early and joined the members of the
branch in cleaning the church. I was way excited since my idea to put together
a service project never really panned out. When I tried to talk with the Branch
President about it everything somehow got lost in translation and we somehow
started talking about herbal medicine, so this felt great. The new Mission
President for the Kumasi
mission is supposed to be visiting our branch tomorrow so the members wanted
the building to be in tip top shape. Jackie and I were put on shutter duty.
Keep in mind that we live in the midst of dirt, dirt, and more dirt…I never
knew a rag could get so black. It was sick, not to mention the millions of dead
bugs…So the windows in the church go from about 1/3 of the way up the wall and
reach to the top. This is no low ceiling either. They are glass panes that open
and close shutter style to let in the breeze or keep out the rain.
I don’t know
when they had been cleaned last but it was a real task. The electric piano was
blasting hymns and it was so fun to sing along while we worked hard on the
shutters. I was so surprised at the number of members who were already at the
church when we arrived and it was so fun to see everyone working so hard to
clean this building. I will never complain about cleaning the stake center on a
Saturday morning again: vacuuming and wiping down the chalk boards is a piece
of cake. Speaking of cake, ma, you know my best cake and I am craving that
right now…that’s going on the list of foods I want when I get home! it’s a long
list sorry…rice has just not quite been fulfilling that need for me this
summer. I have the sickest pooch from all the dang starch and no matter how
many sit ups I do it will not go away. Im hoping it is just water weight and
rice that will drop right off the minute I get home and change my diet or else
Im in trouble. I don’t know if my jeans are going to fit anymore…just kidding
they will. I helped with the weighing and immunizations today and saw the
prettiest babies ever. In Elder Holland’s excerpt about the church in Africa he said that African children “have to be among
the most beautiful children on the face of the earth” and I totally agree. I
have not been other places to compare other than America but I cannot even describe
the beauty of some of these people, and especially the children. And the women
just get dressed up in their best dress and were their gold and diamond jewelry
and heels with their hair all done up to come to the weigh/immunization clinics
and it is truly a sight to behold I tell ya. I have kind of lost motivation for
collecting information for my project at this point which is completely
terrible but with home looming so near it is difficult not to get trunky. It is
like the few weeks before finals…its just hard. After clinic I set up
interviews with the Doctors for next week and then sat with Linda for about an
hour before going home. She said she wanted to take me to see some drumming
later so I went home and got some stuff done and then Jackie and I went to meet
up with Linda. She took us to a part of town we had never been where the fetish
priestess was doing some rituals and ceremony but right when we got there she
had finished because she had to go perform some healing for somebody.
Apparently she does this every Friday but we were never aware of it so I am sad
because I don’t know if we will get to see it, but what can you do. Honestly,
besides work at the hospital and cleaning the church, today was really hard. I
was fed by so many different people today and I could not refuse the food so I
was just full to the brim and feeling so sick and screaming children were not
on my agenda of things I wanted to hear and any time I walk anywhere people are
asking me where I am going and what I am doing and why and sometimes I just get
sick of it. I am sick of feeling like a foreigner, I am sick of not being able
to go places without everyone having to know about it…I guess I am just fed up
with the lack of privacy. I am not really a private person either, I like having
lots of people around and I don’t really like to be alone but today I just
wanted to trade in my skin for black skin so that I could walk around
unnoticed. Also, Jackie’s dad today said that our rash is most likely from mold
or even the animals we are exposed to here and just being in the mood I was in
made me even more anxious to leave because having something taking over your
body because of an exposure makes you feel very vulnerable. Im not one to feel
vulnerable and I hardly ever allow myself to get in these moods but today was
just difficult. I have to remind myself that I am human and that I don’t have
to be happy and enjoying every second of every day. I am very fortunate in that
I have been given this immense love for life but times like these allow me to
see that good even more I think. Tomorrow will be a new day.
July 14, 2012
This morning we went to meet Brother Tewea at his house so
that he could take us to his farm. I thought Cassie and Natalie were meeting us
at the Catholic Church near his house so I was so confused when I saw a white
person standing by the church as we passed by. I didn’t realize it was Nat for
a few moments and then when I did I started laughing so hard, Im losing it man.
We got to his house and sat and chatted for awhile because he still had to eat
his breakfast of rice and fish, then we headed out. We walked for about 20
minutes and we reached the place where his caretaker stays. It was a mud and
stick hut with palm leaves for a roof, I am really grateful I didn’t have to
live in that all summer, that would have been really challenging. He grabbed
his galoshes and his cutlass and brought a cutlass along for us as well and
then we walked the rest of the way to his farm. It was the same road that we
took when we walked to Agona so I kept looking for scorpions to scare Jackie
with no luck. We took a tiny little pathway into the jungle and before too long
we were at his farm. The farms are the most peaceful places ever because they
are shady and have pathways through them and they are far away from humans and
houses and the marketplace. I especially love cocoa farms because the trees
remind me of the way I imagine the sacred grove and I just feel so happy and
calm when I am walking through. He was telling us all about cocoa and we found
kola nut which is what Coca Cola is made out of and we ate the cocoa fruit as
we walked around, a little boy was with us, he helps out, and there were some
ripe bananas atop this tree so he just cut the thing right down to get the
bananas off. It was so funny because we were all walking and all of a sudden
heard this big thing falling down and Jackie grabbed my backpack because she
got scared and we turned around to see this tiny boy holding a cutlass after he
had just hacked this tree down to get the bananas. That would never fly with a
child in America…later he just started hacking at this other tree and fell it
down and pulled out the root and it was cassava. It grows out as the roots of
the tree, it was so cool.
There is this one type of cocoa that is this
beautiful purple/maroon color which comes from Brazil and I still just cant even
imagine how people figured out that chocolate came from these things. We spent
a good long while wandering around the farm and then we headed back to the
caretakers place. She was smoking something on the fire and I didn’t know what
it was at first but then I saw her pick up a head with horns and move it…it was
the entire goat. It looked so disgusting and Cassie was dying. The woman
offered us some nasty parts of the goat including bile which we politely
declined, I am just not that brave when it comes to food; Its way different too
to see the slaughtered animal in its entirety than to just see the cut of meat;
not here, but more so at home. I don’t know how well I am going to be able to
eat meat when I get home…and dairy especially. I have not had one drop of dairy
since being here. Even the small amounts of milk I have found has been soy.
That’s going to be a problem seeing how much I love cheese and ice cream.
Especially if I have developed some type of intolerance for it. I’d trade dairy
weight for this starch pooch any day. Back home we ate bean stew and rice and
then watched a movie. We were all so tired so we laid down a cloth and sprawled
the tiny cushions out on the floor and tried to take a nap. It was not quite a
success but it was kind of fun either way. We played cards until dinner time
after we woke up and were having the best time. Jackie knows how to play tons
of card games so I still have never learned because she can always just explain
them to us but I want to learn because it is so fun. I am so so grateful for
the dynamic we created as a group this summer and I know it can be attributed
to the focus that we all had on our spiritual growth but we just laugh and
laugh all the time and it is so fun for us to all be together and I will have
so many fond memories of Africa simply because we have been able to create them
together, its the best.
July 15, 2012
Today was the last Sunday with our little branch here in Asamang , Ghana
We went home for lunch and then went with King to see the
Fetish Priestess, once again she was not doing her normal routine because she
had gone to Kumasi
so we are going to see her right before we leave on Friday but we got a tour of
her shrine and learned about all the different things. There was this shrine in
the back that was so nasty because they do animal sacrifices and so there was
just dried blood everywhere and all these freaky trinkets and a parrot in a
cage that had feathers and bones all around and man it was just weird. The
Fetish Priestess is so rich because a ton of people still believe in
traditionalism, it is their religion and they pay her a ton of money to perform
her rituals of healing and such, I’m not entirely sure about everything else
that she does but I tell ya, it is so crazy that something like that still
exists. Its super weird too because she says she is a Christian and believes in God
except for when she is possessed by the Spirits of the Gods, summoned by drumming,
and then she is a Traditionalist practicing that religion. That seems quite impossible to me but whatever. She is very
respected within the community though, even among those that don’t believe in
what she does. We had our last group meeting when we got home and talked a lot
about re-entry into our own communities and the challenges that are going to
come along with that. I have absolutely no idea how I am going to handle being
back home because I have never experienced something like this and then gone
back home. I think I will just be so excited to be back for the first few weeks
but we will see how crazy I get about using excess electricity and water after
that…I apologize in advance family. We watched a movie and then just hung out
in the courtyard talking and laughing and Cassie tried to teach us how to
juggle with the laundry clips, not so easy. When it got dark we walked the
girls to the taxis and I don’t know why but that time is the funnest (yes, I’m
aware that is not a word. Cass says it all the time so I have started to). I
don’t know why but at that time we are always SO hyper and just sing and laugh
and always end up scaring everyone on the street, I am quite sure they think we
are nuts. My mom called on the way back so I was a happy girl and I wasn’t even
sad when she couldn’t talk for that long because I realized that I get to see
her in 2 weeks! Just two weeks from today, even at this time, I will be in California with my sweet family having the world’s best
feast and as sad as I will be to leave this place, I am so excited to see my
family and America
again!
July 16, 2012
I finished the Book of Mormon today. I started reading on
May 1 and have admittedly never read this book in such a short amount of time,
and of course never in such circumstances as I am now; but let me place my name
with all those who lived and died for the sake of the book and the restoration
of the Gospel in saying that the Book of Mormon is true! Joseph Smith said that
“a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other
book”. I have felt that closeness with God as I never have before through the
careful study and application of this book. I have felt the pure love of Christ
poured out unto me and in turn from me unto others. Sheri Dew explains all this is such a
beautiful way in her book ‘God Wants a Powerful People’ pointing out how in
D&C 17:6 Jesus Christ himself testifies of the truthfulness of this blessed
book saying “He (Joseph Smith) has translated the book, even that part which I
have commanded him, and as your Lord and your God liveth it is true”. In this
testimony, Elder Bruce R. McConkie explained, the Savior “laid his godhood on
the line. Either the book is true or God ceases to be God. There neither is nor
can be any more formal or powerful language known to men or gods”. For those
lacking faith in the book, isn’t that proof enough? A testimony in Jesus Christ
gives proof unto this book for Christ’s words are made manifest in it and they
cannot be denied. I admit, Satan always allows doubt and fear to creep into my
mind when I am nearing the end of Moroni
but I cannot deny it. It is true as the sun shines. There is nothing in the
world that I am more sure of at this moment than that the book is true. I pity
anyone who cannot humble themselves enough to realize the magnitude and the
beauty of the peace this book brings to ones heart and mind. It truly is a
remarkable record.
On another note, today was a happy, beautiful day. So many
great conversations were had and so many joys were felt. I spent awhile doing
homework this morning and then went into the hospital to solidify an interview
with one of the Doctors. Afterward I went into the town to talk with some women
and get some more informal interviews but ended up talking to mostly men
because they were there while I was talking to Linda and I ended up witting
with them for 2 hours just talking. There was a boy probably a few years
younger than me there at first who was being very persistent in asking me to
marry him and he even got so bold as to lean in and say “I need just one kiss”
I have never so joyfully rejected someone before. Of
course this was not a Provo
doorstep scene by any means but it was still so funny. An older man came awhile
later and sat down talking with me about all kinds of things about America and Ghana
and was telling me about how much they are ‘suffering’ in Ghana . The
conversation turned to marriage and family as it normally does and Linda told
me to get out the picture of my family so I showed it to him and told him who
everyone was. Mom he loved you, he kept saying “your mother is so beautiful, so
beautiful”. People always comment on how beautiful you are mom, I feel so
flattered when they later tell me that I look like you! I love you! I was
looking at the picture after that with the biggest smile on my face so grateful
for my family and I started talking to the picture saying that I was so excited
to see everyone and Linda looked at me in surprise asking if I was a
spiritualist. I laughed and said that I was a Christian and she was confused
because I was talking to the picture. Rather than explain to her that I often
talk to inanimate objects, I just told her that I was joking and she thought I
was so weird. A women came awhile later and brought out a white baby doll which
was given to me and I tried it on for size… This is the world’s best and most
comfortable way to carry a baby I swear. Of course I was just carrying a doll
but I am totally carrying my babies around the house like this when I need to
be hands free.
I don’t think I will be able to pull it off in public in America but it
really is so efficient and surprisingly the cloth feels so tight and secure
even though it seems like it will fall right off when you just look at it. After
a few hours sitting there Jackie came along so we walked home and then finished
reading the Book of Mormon. BEST. I had to be back at the hospital for my
interview at 4:30 and Jackie had to run pick up some things from MCH meanwhile
so I made dinner and had it ready when she got back, ate fast and then went to
the hospital. My interview went really well though there were tons of
interruptions. The Doctors are on high demand right now with one of them on
leave. They have a lot of responsibility. Walking home after the interview it
was my favorite part of the day. The sun is going down so it is not hot but
still light out and the sky always looks so beautiful. There are always
children playing soccer on the fields and people running around everywhere in the
best moods. I talked with a lot of people as I walked home and was just in the
most cheery mood. I even tried my hand at weeding with the cutlass because
there was a huge group of boys doing it in front of the Presby Church
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